Morning Briefs on "questioning" the Los Angeles Political Machine for Wednesday

Hecho En Mexico Restaurant in El Sereno. Why would Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School Principal Marcos Aguilar want to chase out the popular El Sereno eatery, allegedly?

** Evening Update: Writer Hillel Aron of the LA Weekly has penned the following story on the contentious Charter Renewal process involving the Academia Semillas del Pueblo School. An excerpt,

Defending his school, Aguilar tells L.A. Weekly, "What's happening across the country is that there's a development of a myopic reliance on one number. We need to prepare students to think critically, ask questions, write research papers, interview people, speak from experience. Those are all fundamentally not measured on a standards-based exam."But with their exceedingly low achievement on basic skills, few Semillas students will flourish in areas such as writing. Callaghan says the state's testing of core skills is not "the end-all be-all, but you need to know how to add and subtract at a certain age — and at a certain age you need to know vocabulary."

Great late morning to all as storm clouds flow onshore for a late spring rain event. But in the El Sereno or the LA-32 Community, storm clouds have been building and staying stationary over the properties of the controversial Academia Semillas del Pueblo Charter School and the popular Hecho En Mexico Restaurant.

These two establishments that once share things in common (both supported Councilman Jose Huizar's re-election and have raised money for progressive causes), are now locked in a bitter struggle over property usage and judging from the latest accusation from Soccer Advocate, El Sereno Park Advisory Board Member and LA-32 Neighborhood Council Sports and Recreation Committee Member Felix Hernandez, this feud is getting downright nasty.

In light of Academia's recent Charter Renewal via Monica Garcia's LAUSD "Board of Enablers" (Steve Zimmer, Richard Vladovic and Nury Martinez), it would seem that this "alleged scheme" to push out a popular community establishment would be illogical in the lease. But one thing that Anahuak Founder Raul Macias (subject of a past LA Times profile) and Academia's Marcos Aguilar have in common, is the want to grow their respective empires. Plus, is should be noted that Anahuak associate Miguel Luna of the "Urban Semillas" organization is also a longtime supporter of Aguilar's educational endeavors. Sounds like the perfect union for Macias and Aguilar, but not the best fit for the greater El Sereno Community. ** BTW, where is CD 14 City Councilman Jose Huizar in mediating this dispute among past supporters? His office is recommending outside mediation.

** The home of Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez and 11 other locations were raided this morning by District Attorney investigators in search of evidence, in the growing "donations for lower property assessments" scandal.

** The candidates for the 51st Assembly District Open Seat will come together tonight at 7 P.M. for a candidate forum this evening hosted by the The Eagle Rock Association. Link here for the pertainent information via the Eagle Rock Patch.   

Your thoughts ..............

Scott Johnson in CD 14